'I'm good to go,' cornerback Antoine Winfield said with a laugh. 'Everyone knows what they're going to do. We expect the ball to be in the air 50-60 times.'

Winfield smiled at the thought. Of course, Winfield is a proven player who has been around the track a few times. He thrives on action. But virtually all the Vikings' defensive backs said they loved the challenge of going against a pass-'em-dizzy offense. Clearly they see their names in bright neon during the next highlights show.

That's the reason I love defensive backs. They would walk up to a guy carrying a bazooka and say: You call that a gun? They have to be cocky to survive.

The thing is, everyone keeps saying Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, 37, is throwing as well as ever. His numbers appear to back that up, too. Well, that's scary because in his heyday, Warner really traumatized the Vikings. Remember Jan. 16, 2000? That's when Warner, then with St. Louis, torched Minnesota's secondary en route to a 49-37 playoff victory.

During his amazing performance in that game, Warner passed for 391 yards and five touchdowns. That was the year after Gary Anderson's infamous missed field-goal attempt against Atlanta and the year before the Vikings were crushed 41-0 in the NFC championship game by the New York Giants.

So the Warner playoff game often gets overlooked in between those miserable bookends. For that playoff contest, Warner finished with an astounding 142.99 passer rating. Few had even heard of the guy back then. But he went on to get a Super Bowl ring.

And he's supposed to be throwing as well as ever?

(Insert shudder here.)

Again, defensive backs are famous for their bravado.

"I'm definitely going to make me some plays!" the Vikings' Benny Sapp said. "They hit the little flips, they take the long shots, they throw everything you can think of. This is a chance to make some plays."

Said cornerback Cedric Griffith: "Just another day in the world of a corner. We'll go play our defense, and I look forward to making plays."

I'm sure someone burned that old Warner tape, anyway. That would be like showing "Titanic" during a honeymoon cruise.

The other thing about Warner is that he's difficult to blitz. He releases the ball so quickly that he can whip it to an open receiver before a linebacker gets in his face. His passer rating actually is higher when a defense blitzes.

If I were in the secondary, I'd be sidling up to the defensive linemen and reminding them to attack Warner as if he were wearing a fried pork chop around his neck. Please, please pressure him so I'm not out there in the open too long with receivers such as Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston. The Cardinals don't have your run-of-the-mill mini-receivers. They have big, athletic guys who can gain yards after a catch.

"We're going to get lot of action," Vikings safety Darren Sharper said. "They go downfield and will challenge you." Sharper paused and added: "They've got to come my way, though."

He was concerned that Warner might not throw in his direction. Guys such as Sharper and Winfield just want a piece of the action on Sundays. But most teams tend to stay away from them and instead try to work against younger members of the secondary. Reminded that the Cardinals throw the ball all over, Sharper nodded.

"Then I hope they stay true," he said.

There aren't many games in which the plan of attack is so clear. The Cardinals will throw the ball. They aren't particularly good at anything else. They score more points than anyone thanks to their passing game but don't run well. Their defense is mediocre on a good day.

So batten down the hatches in the Vikings' secondary. Here it comes.

"If you are a competitor, you look forward to these games," Sharper said.

The Minnesota DBs say: Let's do it!

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com